Tri-Valley Central School District hosted the annual All County Music Festival for Sullivan County school districts on March 1st and 2nd. Approximately 400 students from Sullivan County school districts in grades 4 -12 were selected to participate in seven musical ensembles, based on teacher recommendations and NYSSMA solo scores from the previous school year.
Participating students prepared the music in advance with their district music teachers, and then met at Tri-Valley for two days to rehearse for the first time together under the direction of special guest conductors. March 2nd was a non-stop stream of music, with three concerts taking place in the theatre in the afternoon, while various groups continued to rehearse throughout the Secondary building.
This year, the festival featured the following ensembles: Elementary Chorus, Jr. High Mixed Chorus, Jr. High Treble Chorus, Middle School Band, Jr. High Jazz Band, Sr. High Symphonic Band and Sr. High String Orchestra. Tri-Valley had great student representation in the various ensembles, and our music department was involved and leading in all aspects of the festival, while also preparing their own students in the weeks leading up to the weekend.
Hosting this event is truly a group effort! Many students, teachers, and parents volunteered long hours to help in so many ways! Our CAST booster organization supplied lunch and dinner for hundreds of students, administration helped with planning, the custodial and theatre staff did an incredible job of cleaning, moving equipment, and prepping spaces throughout this huge event, and security kept everything running smoothly during an extremely busy, rainy weekend. Our TVCS student musicians performed brilliantly!
Again, the music department would like to thank everyone for their support and help (including the many teachers whose classrooms served as homerooms for all the participating students). We also appreciate all the extra effort that our students put into preparing for this event, just one week after our school Musical performances!
This is “Music In Our Schools Month”, and we hope everyone will join us Tuesday, March 12th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Bernstein theatre for an amazing celebration of music by all our grade 4 – 12 Ensembles!
